I promise there wont be to many more...

But I still have a few pictures from St. Thomas that I need to put up on the blog.

While I was down there I did more then just play,

I worked over 40 hours a week.

The people in my store and building are people that

I came to really enjoy being with and

I miss them.

Me and Bev

Me and Melissa

Me, Geoffrey and Kassidy

He was the PL for the Carnival Vicotry.

The best was he started on that ship only

1 week after we got there.  So he was one that

learned with us, and it was always good to

see him every Monday!

Me and Mario

He had a little sunglass shop under the stairs

in the same building as Del Sol.

He was so funny and I definitly miss him!

Meagan and Laura

I dont know why I dont have a picture of

just me and Laura at work! 

But this picture of her and Meg is classic!

There are other girls I miss,

Arrika, Sheryl, Vanessa, and Tasha.

And there are times when I even miss

Jaliem and Brian.

It was definitly a different experience working down there,

but it was so great to learn about a whole

different market then one I am use to.

The cruise ship market is a great one at times,

but it is still hard!

I am so greatful for this learning experience!
Thanks again Del Sol for the amazing opportunity!

If it kills me

I heard this song today while getting ready and it made me think of this dance...

The first time I heard this sond was when this dance was

originally preformed on

So You Think You Can Dance! 

If you know me, you know that every since this time I have

become completely obsessed with this song!

It is the most played song on my computer

(which probably isn't showing a correct number since you have to listen to the whole thing for it to register you listening to it once!)

And it is also the most played song on my Ipod.

(if you know me at all, you realize that is huge!)

There are 2 versions of this song,

I recommend the accostic version,

it is so much better then the original!

Here is the full song

I honestly dont know why I love it so much,

I just do!

(Here is a link to the lyrics as well if you want)

Also I hope you have a great weekend!

Wish me luck on my test I have to take in the morning!

The difference between a grown-up and a teenager

A few weeks ago my niece asked me a simple question,

"Laurie are you a teenager or a grown-up?"

Hmmm well I guess since I am no longer in my teens I am a grown-up right?

Apparently not in her way of thinking!

When I told her this her reply was simple,

"Oh I wasn't sure because I thought you had to have

a husband to be a grow-up."

Well guess I fail in that area then...

Does this mean I don't have to have any other grown-up

resposibilitys then like having a job and paying bills?

(photo found through Google)

Blah...

Today I have ZERO motivation to get any work done...

This is not good since there is a huge stack of changes/faxes/emails that need my attention

The problem is I just dont care today

and I really dont know why

Maybe if I get the mail done first I can find the motivation to do everything else...

Wish me luck or come save me from my boredom!

(photo found here)

The little things

Sometimes in life I think everyone needs to just stop and think about the little things that make life great:

• My parents: At times living at home again can be really hard, but when they leave me home alone for over a week I remember how much I love having them around.  They are wonderful people and I am one of the luckiest girls to have parents that will do so much for me.
• Snow: It is the end of February and it keeps snowing.  I hear people say every day how much they hate the snow and how they are so ready for summer.  Guess what I have lived in a place where summer lasts for months on end and it gets just as old as the cold can get.  I love that I live in a place where I get to experience all four seasons and I would be so sad if I couldn't do that every year!
• Rockstar energy drinks: You are amazing!
• Pepsi: I cant live without you! (So I might be addicted to caffine, guess what though I don't care!)
• Dresses: I love being a girl and being able to wear fun dresses!  I love that the simple act of wearing a dress can set you apart from so many other people.  They make you sit and act more lady-like and I think it is great.  Plus they are so comfy!
• Chances: I have had my kitty for 14 or 15 years now and I love her so much!  I know I wont have her much longer and it breaks my heart to think of that.
• Kassidy: No matter where I go, what I do, or how I act you are still there for me and can always make me laugh.  Thanks for being an amazing friend!  I honestly don't know what I would do without you!
• Basketball: Normally I am a baseball girl, but being able to go and cheer on my cousin during his senior year has been awesome!  He is a great player and I am so proud of him.  I know he will go on to do great things with this sport!  Take state this weekend and finish the out your perfect season!

Thanks to anyone who actually cares and takes the time to read this blog!

Christmas and New Years!

Christmas was one of the hardest days on the islands!  I had the day off work, but the other 3 girls all had to work because there were 4 cruise ships in port.  My plans for the day ended up falling through so instead I sat in my bed watching Christmas movies and crying, while doing some laundry as well.  Pathetic!  The days leading up to Christmas were really fun experiencing different Christmas traditions.  I saw palm trees with Christmas lights, steal drums bands playing Christmas carols, went to the beach on Christmas Eve and even saw a black Santa! 

New Years Eve ended up not being to big of a celebration for me this year. The girls stayed at home for most of the evening enjoying a little bit of time together before we left the island.  We brought in the New Year toasting with sparkeling cider and watching the fireworks from our balcony.  After that Meagan and I met up with the Coasties at Shipwreck.  It was fun to spend one last night with some of these people and to just go and have fun with them.

Thanksgiving

I know I am months late in this post, but better late then never!  For Thanksgiving this year we had people who were away from their families over to our house.  It was definately different then any Thanksgiving I have ever had before.  Working on Thanksgiving is something I never, EVER want to do again.  There were 2 or 3 cruise ships in port so the store had to be open but luckily our manager was really nice and let us close at 2 in the afternoon.  We then spent the remainder of the afternoon cooking, cleaning, taking a quick nap, and making sure our house was festive!  The people who were there were us four Del Sol girls, Anthony, Joss, Manuel, Issac his roommate and his other friend that I can't remember his name!  It turned out great and I am actually kind of glad we were able to just chill and not have to worry about traveling or anything that way!

If you love me...

...you will buy me these

or these,

or maybe these,

or even these,

Thanks! And I love you too!

(P.S- The boots are my favorite! And can you tell I am obsessed with Tom Shoes?)

St. John

In December the 4 girls made sure we had one final day off together so that we could go to St. John for the day.  It was such a fun day!  We took the car ferry over (which was an experience all by itself!) then had fun driving around the island. 

When we were trying to find our way around we happened upon a few donkeys just standing on the road.  We had to stop and it was so fun to pet them and feed them and to just enjoy them! 

After that we went to Salt Bay for a little while and the best part of that was on the drive over we actually saw waves!  (Because there are so many islands in the Carribean you never really see full blown waves the way you do in California or elsewhere.)  After our hike (just over a mile) to and from Salt Bay we did a little shopping on the island. 

After that we headed over to the other side of the island to hit up Cinnamon Bay.  This is the prettiest beach I have ever been too!  We were able to go to little Cinnamon once before with Kacey and Gabe, but this time we were on the bigger stretch of beach.  Cinnamon bay is so pretty and if you ever go to the Virgin Islands you have to go there! 

After Cinnamon we stopped and took a few pictures of Trunk Bay then headed over to Hawks Nest.  It was so fun to just be with the other girls on a day that was all about doing whatever we wanted and having a fun day of playing tourist!  On the ferry ride back to St. Thomas the sunset was amazing and it hit me just how much I would miss this place.

Baptsim at Magens Bay

While in St. Thomas we had an amazing experience of attending a baptism held in Magens Bay.  Being outside for this sacred ordinence was so amazing.  To be able to witness the beauty that the Lord has put here on the earth while feeling the spirit so sweet was something I hope I never forget.

Tonight Im missing...as in missing things or people or places that I can't have. I know it won't last forever but right now I am just going to miss many things!

Slacker...

Obviously I have been slacking when it comes to blogging! Sorry about that! I made it back to Utah on the 2nd and have been loving it! I promise I will finish up on a few posts from St. Thomas (which I hate to admit I am actually really missing...) and update you to what I am up to now! Until then, much love!


Laurie

Come Sail Away

Thank you Kassidy! She met the general manager of On Deck which is a sailing company down here and got us the hook up to go sailing! It was so much fun. There were two boats that went out at the same time, ours which had me, Kassidy and the 2 crew members Tom and Wes, and another boat that had 2 crew members and 3 guys on board. After sailing around for a while we were able to race and we were ruled the winners because the other boat broke the rules. It was fun to learn the different terms and to help take the sails up and down and switch them from side to side. The only sad part is we didn't get very many action shots of us helping with the sales, but we got a lot of other good pictures so that was fun! All in all it was an awesome experience and I would love to go sailing again!

Enjoying the ocean

Releasing the sail...I look kind of funny!

I didn't know he was taking this picture!

Tom showing me what to steer towards.

Kass and I driving!

Me, Wes, Kass and Tom

Pics from the BVI

I posted a little while ago about going to the British Virgin Islands so here are some pictures from that day! It was such a great experience. We were on a charter tour that took us to The Baths at Virgin Gorda first, then we went to Marina Cay which is a little island off of Tortola (this is where we were had our pictures taken in that photo booth!) where we had lunch, then we went snorkeling just off of Tortola and after that headed over to Jost Van Dyke. It was such a great way to visit all of the items and not have to worry about anything. They gave us breakfast on board plus tons of snacks and it was an open bar (which obviously for us was the option of juice, water or soda!). The funniest part about that was when we told the girl we didn't drink her reaction was, "You three must be the only people on St. Thomas that don't drink!" ha ha funny but kind of true! All around though it was so much fun! Thanks for going with me Kassidy and Brynne!

The Cathedral Room part of The Baths

Devils Cay at the end of the trail for The Baths

The Phone/Photo Booth on Marina Cay

Jost Van Dyke

Me and Kass with Scotty the captain of our boat

Parasailing!

At the begining of November Kassidy and I had the chance to go parasailing! It was one of the things that I really wanted to do while living down here. If you have never gone, I highly recommend it! It was amazing! We had 2 of the nicest guys for our crew, and since we were the only appointment they had that day we had a lot of fun. They took us up in the air for around 30 minutes (usually you get maybe 10 minutes) then let me and Kassidy take turns driving the boat! It was really fun and I wish there was enough time left to do it again! Sorry this took so long for me to post these!